Le Figaro Bordeaux
Make some of your purchases in euros, but also in “
gems
”.
This is what around sixty shops offer in Bordeaux and around 150 in the department.
This local currency, equal to the euro, can only be used in Gironde.
Presenting the device this Wednesday, Jean-Baptiste Thony, municipal councilor in Bordeaux, believes that the Gem should "
stimulate the local economy
", by promoting economic exchanges in the territory.
The principle is simple: “
We join, we exchange and we pay
”, specifies the elected official.
For an annual membership of between 5 and 25 euros, individuals and professionals can transform their euros into gems at exchange counters and use them at partner locations.
This currency is indexed to the euro and is therefore not, like bitcoin, subject to speculation, recalls Jean-Baptiste Thony.
"
Local currencies are not intended to replace the euro
", but are thought of as "
complementary
".
A directory and a map of network service providers are available on the association's website.
30,000 gems currently in circulation
According to a report by the Sol Movement published in 2021, there are now more than 80 local currencies in France, bringing together 10,000 companies and associations as well as 40,000 individual members.
They are recognized in the Monetary and Financial Code since a 2014 law on the social and solidarity economy.
About five million euros are currently in circulation in the form of these alternative currencies.
The most important of these is the Eusko, in the Basque Country, with 3.5 million euskos in circulation.
Read alsoThe eusko, the first local currency in Europe
The objective of the Gemme - born of the merger between the MIEL (Monnaie d'Intérêt Economique Locale) and the Ostréa (in the Arcachon basin) - is to "
create a local economic loop
", by going "
to seek producers in all territories
," says Sacha Colsaet, the association's coordinator.
“
As long as the local currency is in circulation
”, this also allows “
a doubling of the money supply in the service of the economy of the territory
”.
However, these alternative currencies remain "
a tool that can only work if we use it
", recalls Sacha Colsaet.
The objective is therefore to increase from 30,000 gems currently in circulation to 100,000 in 2025. To encourage the development of this system, the city of Bordeaux plans to put in place several measures.
In 2023, on a voluntary basis, part of the compensation for elected municipal officials may be paid in gems.
A digital payment planned from 2023
This Wednesday, while the new Gem banknotes, from 1 to 33 gems, are officially put into circulation, several elected officials have testified to their desire to be paid in part in this way.
About fifteen will act as "
guinea pigs
" for this experiment, including Delphine Jamet, deputy mayor in charge of general administration and the evaluation of public policies.
"
Delighted to see
this project come to fruition, the elected official believes that this approach"
is fundamental because it sets an example
.
Elected officials Didier Jeanjean and Marie-Julie Poulat signed the membership charter for La Gemme this Wednesday, at the associative café Le Petit Grain, in Bordeaux.
DR / City of Bordeaux - Thomas Sanson
The city then aims to extend this possibility of payment to municipal officials who would like it, and to allow various collections in gems in public services, such as in museums, but also to pay for parking or public transport.
For merchants, gems can be used to pay their place fees.
At the beginning of 2023, a digital offer from eGemme will be put in place.
By means of an application, members will be able to make online payments and thus top up their purchases.